Do You Think I Need Radiation?

Ms. Tiffany, in general Taxol is given to women with node-positive cancer (which you don't have), or in women with a recurrence or metastasis (which it sounds like you don't have, either). So I guess I'm out of my depth here. Sometimes you'll have radiation after a mastectomy in order to treat the chest wall or armpit area; maybe this is what they're recommending it for. Any other questions, you'd best ask your oncologist (rather than the intern). Best of luck -PJH

Hi Ms Tiffany,

I had radiation after my mastectomy.  The reason was that the cancer was large (over 5cm) and there was another small dodgy area near it, so I was considered at high risk for local recurrence.  (You can even get recurrence in your mastectomy scar, believe it or not.) 

I also had Taxol as part of my chemo treatment.  Three cycles of FEC (fluoracil-epirubicin-cytotoxan) followed by three of Taxol.  I had just one positive node.  I could have opted for six cycles of FEC but my oncologists recommend minimising exposure to one of the FEC drugs - cytotoxan I think - which is more damaging to the heart.  Being in the U.S., you may have the option of having weekly Taxol which may be the more effective regimen.  I could have had it weekly, but I would have had to pay out of pocket.  Here in New Zealand new treatments and/or delivery methods have to jump through several hoops before they can be funded by the public health service.

Remember, any treatment is your decision to make.  I thought long and hard about both chemo and radiation, read lots and probably annoyed my doctors with all my questions.  Good luck with everything.  And remember, there's light at the end of the tunnel - I just finished radio about three weeks ago and things are looking a lot brighter (even though it's winter here!)

All the best,

Andrea